Government’s back-to-work reforms have left disabled people anxious, MPs told

By Aine Fox, Reorter29th March 2023News EnglandDisabilities, Government / Politics, News England, Welfare / Benefits, Welfare Reform

Proposed reforms aimed at getting more people into work have left disabled people feeling anxious and could expose them to bad practice, MPs have heard.

Changes outlined by the Government at the Budget earlier this month could make life “very, very difficult for disabled people”, a parliamentary committee was told.

The reforms, dubbed by the Government as shifting the focus to what people can do rather than what they cannot, involve the scrapping of the work capability assessment (WCA), leaving only the personal independence payment (PIP).

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said he wanted to remove barriers to work by ensuring disabled benefit claimants “will always be able to seek work without fear of losing financial support”.

During his Spring Statement he said half the vacancies in the economy could be filled with people who want to work but are inactive due to sickness or disability.

The head of policy at Disability Rights UK said the proposals, accompanied by a White Paper with details on how the plan would work, were problematic.

Fazilet Hadi told the Women and Equalities Committee on Wednesday: “The day of the White Paper the phones were hot with disabled people with anxieties about what was happening.”

She told MPs there could be “lots of disabled people” who are regularly assessed for PIP “who live in fear of losing it” as they would then lose the health component of Universal Credit.

Ms Hadi added that while the WCA “has no friends” among disabled people, it does give some who have a limited capability for work some protection from sanctions.

She said it should be replaced with a “proper assessment” looking at a person’s capability to work, their circumstances and the barriers for them in getting into employment.

Ms Hadi told the committee: “Let’s have assessors that understand how to deliver that assessment because we do need a consistent way of disabled people feeling – who do need protection or who need some additional support – of working out who those disabled people are.

“And leaving it to individual work coaches up and down the country to decide individually what should happen through a health and work conversation leaves disabled people extremely exposed to bad practice.”

The Government has promised “transitional protection” for existing claimants to “ensure that no-one experiences financial loss at the point at which the reform is enacted”.

The reforms are due to come in by 2026 at the earliest, with a rollout for new claims set to be complete within three years from then.

Ms Hadi said while people’s immediate fears can be quelled “the direction of travel is all bad”.

She did however welcome more money for employment support but called on that funding to be delivered by disabled people’s organisations and impairment-specific organisations.

Ms Hadi added: “We understand the barriers. We understand what gets people into work. I don’t think they should be delivered by the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions).”